San Juan, St Maarten, St Thomas, HELP!!!?

Question

I am going on a seven day cruise to these places. I have been on three cruises before and paid alot of money for disappointing excursions. Any suggestions on things to do on these islands that are in walking distance and memorable?

Answer 1

go to cruisecritics.com

This site will have lots of ideas for you.  I've been on cruises too, and the only ones that seem worth the money are the booze cruises.  I usually find what I'm going to do by asking questions on cruisecritics.com and then hop in a taxi when I arrive at the island.  The taxi drivers are all nice and will pick you up at a certain time that you tell them.  Don't worry.  Be happy! :)

iBtraveling.com has some great deals too.

Answer 2

I went on a cruise that also stopped in St Maarten and St Thomas. There isn't really a lot  you can walk to on these islands, cabs are necessary. On St Thomas we took a cab into the main town area where they have the jewelry stores etc. We took a tour/ trip to the beach trip. Just a guy from St Thomas has a large open taxi car and he took us around the island talking about, well alot, from past hurricanes to the beaches. So after the tour he took us to a beach (where we stayed for 2 hours then he came back to pick us up), there were 3 which you could choose from Magens Bay, Sapphire and one other which I can not remember, i believe it was called coki point. Magens bay is a popular beach, usually crowded, when it does rain on St thomas the rain usually hits Magens bay. There is a small entrance fee to get onto the beach, $3 adults $1 for children. The snorkeling at Magens is poor. There are restrooms and showers as well as lifeguards, food and a gift shop.

Then there is Sapphire beach, the one we choose. It was the perfect beach, we enjoyed it very much. Its not a huge beach, but they do have good snorkeling at the reef at the end of the beach. There are some really neat tropical fish and my mom saw a turtle! There are also Iguanas behind the beach area, but they won't bother you. Sapphire also has restrooms and a shower as well as a restaurant close by.

Then Coki point, which I do not know much about, but I was told they have great snorkeling. You can find more info on these beaches such search in google. I wouldn't call this an excursion but it gave us a chance to see the island and spend a few hours on a beautiful beach. It cost us $25 a person. There were 5 of us, but he let the 5 year old go for free. Hope that was some help for St Thomas. Of the three islands we stopped at on our cruise St Thomas was by far my favorite. The people living on the island are very friendly!

St Maarten a french and dutch side. The cruise ship docks in Philipsburg, on the dutch side . In St Maarten, you have to take a water taxi or taxi to get anywhere, from what i remember there is not much just off the ship. So we took a water taxi over to the main shopping area. It was around $5 a person and if you got a pink wrist band you could come and go on the water taxi as many times as you want throught the day. Again there are all the jewelry shops. So from there we took a cap to a beach on the french side, called Orient Bay. It is 2 miles long, but be aware it is a clothing optional beach, BUT the nude part is at one of the ends of the beach, so there are not nude people all over the beach. We did see 1 or 2 topless women walk by, but not a huge worry. Orient beach was beautiful but not calm due to numerous water sports going on. Jet skis etc. The snorkeling was not bad. There were washrooms and showers also.

Again not really an excursion, but we didn't want to pay a huge amount of money for an excursion booked through the cruise so we did out own thing. I would get some info on other beaches on St Maarten.  A few other things about Orient beach I forgot to add above is that there are quite a few venders that walk the beach selling necklaces etc, but they are not overly pushy. It is much quiter in the morning, but as the day went on it became quite busy.

So I hope that was some help, enjoy your cruise and have fun in the Caribbean!

Answer 3

In San Juan, check out the shopping in Old San Juan, which is close to the pier area.  If you go past the Sheraton to where Senor Frog's is, then go left you will run into this area.  If you have $ for a cab, go to Fort San Cristobal and El Morro.  They have good views and historical significance.

In St. Thomas, you should try to get a cab to Magen's Bay.  This is probably the most beautiful beach I've been to.  There aren't a lot of people there, the water is clear, and the beach itself is very clean.

Answer 4

When I go on cruses,and I've been on several,I go ashore,wander around awhile,then I find a taxi and ask them to drive me around and show me their island.They can usually take you to their favorite places off the beaten path and you see things the usual tourist doesn't see,it works for me !!